Spring had already arrived in the northern lands, but for Dragon's Landing Fortress atop the mountains, the bitter wind remained an unending refrain—the wind blowing in from the coastline and surging through the mountain passes never ceased to buffet this ancient fortress built of massive stone. Between the castle's outer corridors and towering ramparts, its howling never stopped, day or night.
Huge Fire Basins burned in the corridors between the castle's inner and outer courtyards. The Energy Shields rising between them blocked the cold winds from the outer corridors, though the howling could still occasionally be heard passing through the shields. Sir Golosh Hickel stood between two enormous stone pillars, looking through the open corridor toward the outer courtyard. Fully armed Dragonblood Warriors stood tall in the cold wind, as motionless as stone statues.
The powerful physiques of dragonkin allowed them to ignore the chill atop the mountains. This was also one of the things the people living on this land were most proud of in their bloodline.
Footsteps sounded from nearby. Sir Golosh turned and saw Sir Keximir, with his short black hair, approaching him. He gave the other man a slight nod, and after returning the greeting, Sir Keximir casually said, "I heard from the Grand Duke that the winds in Tarlonnd are even colder and fiercer than they are here... I can hardly imagine what it must be like there."
"Neither can I," Sir Golosh said. "We dragonkin have never gone north since birth, and we were forbidden from learning anything about the lands beyond the northern sea... In that regard, I am no different from you."
Sir Keximir fell silent for a moment. After several seconds of quiet, he suddenly asked, "What do you think the duchy's people will do once they learn those truths? Will